1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for locating sources of high levels of electromagnetic emission in printed circuit boards and similar circuit packages.
2. Related Art
Communications regulatory authorities in many countries have introduced regulations requiring that electromagnetic emissions from computing equipment and other digital equipment be limited in order to prevent electromagnetic interference to licensed radio communications. For example, in the U.S.A., the Federal Communications Commission has introduced Part 15, Subpart J of the FCC Rules which specifies test methods and limits.
One way of limiting emission is by mounting the equipment in a shielded enclosure which acts as a Faraday cage. This can prove expensive because of the numerous measures to ensure that the shield is not compromised by electromagnetic leakage through enclosure openings or external electrical connections. Thus special conductive gaskets to electrically join panels, and radio-frequency filtering of all wiring leaving the equipment may be required. A cheaper method in the long term is to ensure that the various electrical and electronic components within the equipment do not in fact generate high levels of electromagnetic emission. An important tool in circuit board design is therefore a method for easily and accurately locating and measuring the electromagnetic emission from an operating circuit board.
Using a known system, a prototype circuit board package is placed in an environment such as an anechoic chamber devoid of any electromagnetic interference. A monitoring device is then set up in spaced relationship to the circuit board or equipment to ascertain the gross electromagnetic emission.
This does not really assist in determining exactly where on the circuit board the electromagnetic emission is high. For this a more localized monitor is required.